Torquay tourists look on horrified as man viciously THROTTLES a seagull and FLINGS it back to sea after it tries to pinch his doughnut
- Man was filmed grabbing a seagull that stole his doughnut in Torquay, Devon
- He flung bird over the sea wall to the astonishment of passing holidaymakers
- Unidentified man then picked up the doughnut and ate it near Princess Theatre
Shocking footage has captured the moment a man grabbed a seagull and carelessly flung it back to sea after it tried to steal his doughnut in Devon.
The unidentified man was filmed holding the bird in one hand as horrified onlookers walked down the promenade near to the Princess Theatre in Torquay.
A flock of gulls had swooped on a doughnut he bought from the nearby Pier Point Chippy as he stopped by a sea wall to answer the phone, witnesses said.
He grabbed one of the birds by the neck, and held it until it dropped his doughnut. The man then picked up the snack and began eating again.
Onlookers gasped as he then flung the gull over the sea wall.
The unidentified man was filmed holding the bird in one hand as horrified onlookers walked down the promenade near to the Princess Theatre in Torquay
The video was filmed by a young woman from Torquay who was eating outside Pier Point with her mother.
She said the incident had been going on for ‘quite a while’ when she grabbed her phone and filmed the man.
She said: ‘It went on for such a long time.
‘Nobody really reacted – everybody was just kind of dumbstruck – so I grabbed my phone and filmed the end of it.
‘It looked like he had just bought the doughnuts from the Pier Point Chippy – then he put them up on the seawall to answer his phone and the gulls all descended.
A flock of gulls had swooped on a doughnut he bought from the nearby Pier Point Chippy as he stopped by a sea wall to answer the phone, witnesses said
The video was filmed by a young woman from Torquay who was eating outside Pier Point with her mother. Pictured: The nearby Princess Theatre
‘So he grabbed one by the throat and had it in his hand for over a minute and everyone sitting outside at Pier Point restaurant turned around and looked at him in horror – but he didn’t care.
‘He just carried on. The gull dropped the doughnut and he just picked it up and carried on eating it and licking his fingers!
‘When people were all staring he just said “It took my doughnut” in a northern accent as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do. But it was horrible.’
Another onlooker said: ‘It was odd that nobody reacted but it was such a weird thing to see. He didn’t seem to care what people thought.’
Seagulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which means it is against the law to injure or kill them.
Devon and Cornwall Police and the RSPB have been contacted for comment.